The dilemma of a character you like not being strong meta wise

There's definitely people like you, so don't worry. Though, it's not me. I pull for characters that I genuinely like for collection sake. Even if they're top in meta, I won't build if I don't feel like it. I just like having the character in my account. And now I'm in the process of building all my characters even when I don't even use them. I just build them for fun.

Definitely not just you, but also definitely not me.

I'm the type to pull only if I like someone. If they just so happen to also be meta, that's a great added bonus. If they're not, I'm still going to pull them. I skipped many meta units simply because I didn't vibe with their voice or design.

i used to pull out my benched favs for floor 9-11 back before 9 and 10 got auto completed. but yeah it def feels bad when favs characters cant keep up yet others can

That's why I like IT so much, it gives a purpose for older and benched characters. I don't mind pulling for "weaker" characters because I know they'll have an use in IT at the very least

Xiao and itto are very usable and strong if your meta isn't "youtube tierlist meta".Clorinde and cyno not so much.

I don’t have that dilemma because screw “meta” I do what I want and meta chasers can’t make me feel otherwise. Also just because a character you like isn’t “meta” doesn’t mean they’re useless and you don’t need “meta” to play this or to clear everything.

It really sucks. Especially with the steep power creep we get since Natlan.

But Genshin is still better than a lot of other gatchas. They still release new characters that buff old ones. Sure you can call some teams wheelchair but who cares?

Ayato helped my Skirk to beat the Drake in SO. Raiden gets carried by Furina/ Xilonen (yelan). And now im using Yae with Bineffa + Succrose.

They still have some synergy. And I can still play them.

Yae/ Bineffa is my current overworld team cause it's not burst reliant and it's so satisfying to walk around with Columbina.

Bro, I like Yoimiya(c1 for some reason) and Klee(c2)

not using them to clear endgame wont change that.

All we can hope now is that mondstadt buffs werent an one time thing and it will be extended to the rest of mond ofc but also to liyue and the rest of the regions that need buffs.

I agree, it wasn’t so bad until Natlan came. Before that, it was fairly possible to use many characters, but then the powercreep went overboard. And it’s getting worse. Even if you want to make good use of a DPS you like, they are often not enough on their own; you usually need another dedicated support for them as well (who usually is a really random character).

Cyno is a pretty interesting lunar-charged dps if you have Ineffa or Columbina, because he has high EM and crit stats. Probably not as high numbers as Flins but not to be scoffed at.

Xiao's plunges during burst has no ICD, so there might be a use for him as a driver. Also he's probably pending some juicy Liyue buffs.

Itto, uh... he's one of Genshin's characters I guess. Unfortunately he has ICD during his burst, unlike Noelle, who's in line to be THE best lunar-crystallize trigger.

Not me. I pull whoever I like just to collect them. I don’t care if they sit on the bench forever, it’s better than not having them.

Also, I’m not into endgame. I already have multiple meta teams, but I rarely clear 36\* and never try fearless.

I can relate somewhat since I have skipped characters I like for that reason, though I've also pulled off-meta faves because their gameplay seemed fun. Still crossing my fingers that my washed goats get buffed later down the line though

This is me with Varka right now because while he’s great and has one of THE best models, his damage and especially gameplay are not to my taste.

> Sure I can walk around over world with him, fight a few hilichurls but that doesn’t really feel like PLAYING a character. 

Is doesn't? Sure, YMMV but to me that matters much more than the total \~30 minutes every month spend in theater/abyss/onslaught

idk, most of the time you arent in those endgame domains though? open world exploration, the story quests, the domains you grind, bosses.. you can kinda constantly use him here. But that simply sounds like your main interest in the game revolves around the endgame content and then I get it, when your favourite isnt really as powerful there.
Also, if you pull for good and fitting support, he can do plenty of dmg thanks to them.
We also got more challenging open world content with the worldlevel increase and local legends. Those are very managable with your favourites, even though you cant just jump in blindly and need to prep and adjust sometimes. Which i think is great.

I pulled for Scara during Sumeru's Chronicled Wish banner. I know he's no longer meta, I know he's no longer the best for exploration. I believe my username explains a lot tho :)

And yes I do agree that both matter but I joined Genshin for him and I promised myself I would get him. Do I regret it? A little, but I have two well functioning teams for abyss and his purpose is to look pretty

This is me as my favourite is Diluc. Pulled him off the chronicle wish, got C2 from the selector and new con thing, got red horn for him and Xianyun. All to make a plunge team that was considered his saving grace. Then Natlan powercreep came and what was considered decent is now crap. So all that effort for nothing lol. I barely play the team and Xianyun has no use outside of it either. My only hope is he gets a hex buff. 🥲

Dilemma?!

In that case my answer is: "FUDGE THE META, EAT MY PULLS!".

A handful of pulls a month from not fully clearing is not worth passing on a character that is fun to play and that I like. 99% of the content doesn't scale to that hardcore level anyway.

You can use Cyno up to A11, if 12 stacks the odds against him just go into A12 with a different team. Besides, I'm sure you can wheelchair Cyno with the Bina/Ineffa/Suctrose Rocket booster just fine. I easily trashed the current Abyss with Raiden Shougun + said wheelchar (which was barely built).

>I feel like meta and good vibes both matters.

I'll be brutally honest here: the meta in these kind of games just moves too frikkin fast. Unless you are spending ... a lot... don't expect to always be on top of it. They will shill different concepts at different times. Sometimes your units will be favored, sometimes not.

**Endgame in Gacha games is a marketing tool, first and foremost.** Feeling inadequate and pulling for stronger stuff. That is how they get you. Never, ever forget that.

I can't really say if I totally relate with you or only partly... I'm a Keqing main in the way that I'm _totally_ reliant on Keqing (like only her gameplay I find comfortable), so obviously my 'shining' time was in patch 3.0.

But I used to be eager on, not clearing, _completing_ game modes to get the maximum amount of primogems (broken player things, yada yada) to the point of asking my trusted and more skilled friend to play in my stead to get full stars etc.

Along the way though, and happens to be at the same time my friend left the game (no passion for it anymore), I just think screw full stars, screw IT stage 10—I'll just clear it however I can. And it made me happier that way? <3

In comparison for example I pulled Xiao and Itto, while not the main reason but still in a way to try having an 'easier' roster to complete the game modes and what happens to them when meta shifts? Even I sometimes forget I have Itto and Xiao. But even Ayato or Raiden I still use until now even if just to clear domains or coop bossing, because I like them.

Can't relate.

as someone who has C6-ed questionable units ( Shenhe / Childe ) , this doesnt bother me ,

im sorry that the community brainwashed u into thinking being a lobotomised meta slave is normal lol. ive played this game for ages, and it wasnt always like this. people used to care a lot more about char design/personality/lore/voice and im still that type of person but it seems most ppl cant see past their numbers obsession.. i hope u continue to enjoy the game and the characters for what they are :) ive also seen those kinds of people write how the latter seem much happier and im genuinely convinced they hardly even like the game
youre right that the game is difficult when the char u like happen to be weak. praying they buff liyue/inazuma soon. best advice i can give is pull for 1 or 2 meta teams and rely on them for tough fights, hopefully theyre teams consisting of mostly char u enjoy. my only meta team is skirk BIS and its beyond easy to clear content w her but i happen to like her design a lot anyway so :>

I pull all the waifus because that's what I want. I liked Mizuki, Dehya, Chiori, and Yae. I even pulled Keqing cons in her exclusive banner in the first Lantern Rite. I play them in endgame modes and if I can win with them then that's great. If not possible then I try the other characters. I don't just stop at getting rewards because if you really like these characters then you should be willing to try them out through thick and thin. IT is also the best end game mode for me because of the fact that I can bring all vertically invested waifus from Dehya to Nefer in there and have fun.

Seems to me what you really like is the meta and the character is just secondary. Financial restrictions and efficiency in mind, you place a higher value in the meta. You should realize and accept that so you don't feel bad going forward. No shame in being a meta slave if that's what determines your enjoyment of the game.

the solution is to pull their cons

I play Eula, Wriothesley, Cyno, Ayato, Baizhu, Dehya, Venti, Albedo, Klee (before and after their buffs), Zhongli and Shenhe.
I understand everything you said but here is what I do:

1. If I like the character A LOT, like Venti or Wriothesley ("mid" units according to 90% of the players) I pull for signature and/or constellations. My Venti is c2 Skyward Harp and Wriothesley is c3r1, of course they don't perform like a c3 Mavuika, but they work muuuuuch better than their c0r0 versions. In this Stygian I cleared the Crab boss with Venti, Albedo, Furina and Kokomi (floor 5 I mean) so yeah, at the end of the day for me it is worth.

2. If I like the character because of design, story, whatever reason enough to make me pull for them I usually find them a good 5* weapon and the best possible build. Ayato, Eula, Cyno or Baizhu belong here. They are bad for end game so I use them on events, daily coms, farming domains... Yeah, is not worth and I know they're "bad" units, but I still have fun and enjoy having them on my account.


For Varka I'll follow the step 1, I want him at least c2 r1. He is not a top tier dps so I'll try to make him as strong as possible.
But yeah, it is a pain in the a** when you love a character but Hoyoverse makes them dirty... My advice for you is to find 2/3 STRONG teams and then pull for whoever you like.

I honestly think a big part of the problem is that endgame lately has been heavily shilling new characters a little too hard. That and powercreep is getting imho out of hand. So powercreep combined with heavy shilling makes using older characters much harder.

Yes I know spiral has always had specific boons that help current banner characters, but lately the bosses they've been adding are too tailored for new characters/mechanics. Meaning that if you don't bring the "right" character you're missing out on a like 40-70% buff AND your fighting something with more resistance/hp that newer characters can circumvent.

I feel like nodkrai especially has this issue bc there's literally no 4 stars with moon wheels meaning that unless you pull for a least 1 5 star character you literally cannot bypass the new mechanic. And realistically you're most likely gonna pull for a least 1 new 5 star, but it's the concept of being forced to do so that kinda irks me.

And look I honestly don't mind when they add new mechanics that require special elements, it helps spice up team comps and forces people to try new teams, but the grey health mechanic is just unfair and honestly lame, it really just boils down to "have 2 nodkrai characters" or have high DPS it's not complex or fun (the horse was solid tho, I liked the element infusion mechanic).

And yes everyone and their mom talks about powercreep and how it does or doesn't exist, but bro a year ago we got mavuika who was so much stronger then any other unit ever released, I couldn't believe how strong she was and she dominated everything (as most archons do tbf). I remember for the longest time how hard it was to get characters to consistently hit like 100k hits and then all the sudden maviukia comes along and does 300-600k with 1 button lmao. But fast forward a year and she's no longer the strongest character or team, like mavuika is still strong but she's literally been powercreept in a little over a year.

So yeah me personally I can typically clear all endgame and I get my primos but it's honestly getting hard to use older characters. I'm still pulling for whoever I like and Ive been playing for long enough that I have several characters to build just about any team, but I really truly and honestly don't like the direction we're taking for endgame content.
Oh well ig well just have to see where things go.

This is very noticeable in Stygian Onslaught. I used to pull constellations on my favorite characters. I have C6 Sigewinne mind you. Her team still does 160 - 180K DPS on a dummy. But with boss restrictive mechanics and newer characters powercreeping, using newer characters with C1 or C0R1 is way easier and trivialize the SO. And my Nahida C6 is reduced to prototype amber + Deepwood carry, so lunarbloom team can go ham on the boss.

In exploration using characters without mobility feels so lame after you get used to Natlan characters so no room for old characters there.

Maybe I'm not a "true" die-hard main, I still want to use my favorites too but I'm not handicapping myself either. Turn out I can only use them a bit in IT and Spiral abyss and that's it.

I feel your pain, but for me whos waiting for characters that are not even playable… I would honestly take a dogwater kit and being able to play my fav. Thats one thing about genshin that I like: with enough investement you can play whatever you want

For me it does not matter. I pulled Ayato on the inazuma banner. I used him in the abyss for floor 11 but not higher.

Abyss and SO i just do for the primos and IT is the only end game i actually like but for me those are all just challenge modes for resources.

For me its using the characters in the main map and quests is what i consider as playing them and no one is ever benched for a long time as i rotate them often and try out non meta teams.

there are 2 ways forwards you either hyper invest (aka mutlipule cons) or wheel chair (inffina 100k lmao)

I feel you. While I look first the design rather than meta or popularity, Im not absolutely happy if my favorite are also weak.
Im an unlucky player; my favorite ones are Yoimiya, the queen of the reverse powercreep, and see players bullying on her is painfully, Dehya, Wrio the weakest 4.x dps...Mizuki a standard units (still, I don't understand how players can be happy to have new standard unit each year. For me is a threat instead) and HAhahah...uhu...
HSR my favorites are a standard unit dps and two 4* that are unplayable now...

I agree with you, "exploring team" doesn't give much value to a character, expecially when there are characters with true exploring skills. This game is also a fight game! A lot of players like clear endgame contents, and some of them aren't "metaslaves" (some ppl here felt the need to attack metaslaves or meta in general while OP just wanted characters that don't suffer so much to clear Abyss like some pre 4.x dps).

What I can say to you OP: if you really love an unit but is weak, reflect on the idea to pulling their Constellations and/or their suppors' Constellations.
Study YouTube videos also.
I really love Yoimiya, and I work so much with her that I can clear any content with her (except this current Stygian, but with Durin's WP I saw is possible). And I pulled only her Wp and Constellations up to C5). Im sure that there are also good Cyno clears.

And last thing: They can buff old unit👌🏾

I totally understood your POV.

It's similar to most markets nowadays for example, smartphones.

We got pushed to upgrade every single year even though last year's model is still serviceable. Then every single app goes out of their way to make old models obsolete.

Yeah i agree, it sucks. Your waifu and husbando's strength is proportional to the recent-ness of his/her release date and/or gacha banner.


But also because of this, keqing mains and amber mains were born. Because they like the waifu so much and hoyo have forsaken their damage and skills, the players ascended to another realm of existance to inherit god hands and created builds and plays that amazed people.


But i think this is how it goes for any hoyo gacha game. Or most gacha game in general. Characters released wont be strong forever. They can be buffed but they wont be as strong as the current banner.

I had to bench C6 Ganyu. I already benched her before C6 and the reason I pulled it was because I thought she'd be good again. But nope, still obsolete. I can't spend time doing near perfect plays, I got stuffs to do.

As someone who absolutely adores Dehya, seeing how bad she is just makes me very sad...

If you played since the game released you will have rolled on many characters. I have a lot of meta characters but also a lot of non meta characters. I'm pretty much over it if a character i like isnt strong because I have meta characters anyways to clear anything well.

I feel you on the Cyno now. He's not even viable in Imaginarium Theater. I also went all in on Dehya and they did us REAL dirty for her as well. Took a patch and a new artifact set to make her usable, and a whole country that was waiting on a pyro archon to release to make her usable.

Pull for you who you like is a great concept, but I clear all the end game content every patch. If I get a new character, and the end game content caters to them, and I still can't clear it? Well then there's clearly something wrong.(I just use Mavuika/Skirk team for everything these days but still)

I'm skipping horse chick for Varka and I know it's gonna be bad, but my Navia is caked out and I'll be happy to use her again in Geo themed content with Columbia.

I've always pulled for characters i like, meta or not. Honestly, I find the most recent "to hit hard with A you *need* B" scheme more annoying, and the reason why I keep playing one day and then stop for weeks.

Natlan spoiled us for overworld kits too. It sucks Nefer and Flins have unique mechanics for their region but feel awful to sprint around as compared to ANY Natlan character. 😔

As someone who has Dehya since her debut banner, it doesn't bother me.

If you like a character enough, you'll make it work somehow. No regrets, nothing. Still using her til this day.

ngl same, i c6r5 alhaitham and my account is mostly based alot on him since he was my goat, but lately its not looking too good for him anymore and it makes me sad because i remember when he was the king of dendro 😭i still use him though cause why not but fuck i miss when i didnt have to use too much of a wheelchair. im having a hard time wanting ineffa but i already have lauma and columbina and i think kuki is just kinda better but im not entirely sure (someone pls help me)

I'm pretty aware that I got really lucky with Lyney being my favorite character; his Cons are solid (especially as compared to Cons pre-Fontaine) and being a Pyro Crit-based dps means that he benefits from common supports so they can help him a lot in the future and his potential for upgrades is very unlikely to close

But I imagine that the game is a lot less fun if your favorite character doesn't have that kind of benefit. Quicken hasn't gotten much since Sumeru, in the example of Cyno. Cyno in particular is also not great in the overworld because of how his Burst works as I'm told (I don't have Cyno myself)

So yeah, I imagine that it sucks a lot more. I wish I had a silver lining but I can't really think of one...

For a 5 star fire elemental bow user that debuted in 2.0 it's just another Tuesday.

I c6 dehya on banner she us still used in abyss as dps or support Based on enemies

I pull for characters I want, regardless if they're meta or not. Abyss is not really a problem, stygian onslaught is. I have to be creative about my team building and dedicate my resources to artifacts for SO. For example, my Skirk is C0 and I don't have Escoffier, Kokomi, or Yelan, but I have, Furina, Shenhe, and Sigewinne so they're her teammates. Shenhe and Sige are still viable teammates that helped Skirk (and me) clear a lot of content including Fearless in SO. I don't touch Dire at all, but also it's not necessary to. Honestly as long as you have Furina and are willing to experiment with team comps to find good strats, you should be fine. But remember, meta DPSes go out of style quickly, supports don't, so focus on good generalist supports over who does the most damage currently (why Furina is so valuable in every account).

I still main Noelle, meta be damned

I usually don’t clear contents which I can’t use my favorite units (Fischl) in, like some season of Imaginarium Theatre.

Totally not relevant for absolutely no reasons.

To put in perspective, I haven't done a single endgame content in months. I really just don't care for endgame unless I feel like getting a few primos. But first and foremost is wandering overworld with my fave characters and the story.

Oh I completely feel you lol, been a Keqing player primarily since I started playing the game. Kind of just accepted myself a long time ago that if I want to keep playing her in endgame, I'll likely just have to keep pulling what new wheelchair core comes out next. I guess at least with my investment it's not as bad as it could be since she still deals an okay amount of damage in the lunar wheelchair on my teams, and in OL she's the primary damage dealer for me ig.

Unfortunately the "don't care about the meta, pull for who you like, you'll be able to clear anyway" is a thing of the past. Neuvillette started the powercreep and Mavuika cemented it. I've been playing since 1.0 and over time my mentality for who to pull has changed significantly.

In the beginning I just pulled for whoever I liked period. I really didn't care about the abyss. Over time I started enjoying the game mode and began learning about the more intricate mechanics such as ICD, gauge theory and so on. I started getting into team building and so I adjusted my wishes into still getting whatever characters I liked, but supplementing it with meta or specific supports who could bring the best out of the characters I favored.

This mentality held stable all the way until Fontaine and I loved it. It is, in my opinion, a big part of what made this gacha so popular even in the west. There was genuinely little to no powercreep or other predatory marketing tactics (well outside of the gacha mechanic of course). I used Hu Tao from 1.3 all the way until 4.6 and could clear content comfortably because I knew the game mechanics and supported my favorite characters with some meta supports who, by the way, were often very versatile like Kazuha for example.

But in 4.6 Arlecchino was released and Hu Tao was plainly powercrept. Even before that we had Chiori who was an upgrade of Albedo (when at the geo still had, and still has to this day, many other roles unfulfilled like a dedicated healer for example), and Neuvillette who was miles above Ayato for example. But until Arlecchino, or maybe Natlan, the difficulty of the content seemed to stay the same. Neuvillette was just a cheat code to make things easier for you. But that changed and eventually my old characters started becoming obsolete.

Natlan, imo, has done many things well. Most importantly of all, the character kits are genuinely super fun and overworld friendly. You talked about liking Cyno, and one issue that he and many others have is being burst reliant, which sucks for overworld content. So even there, where the difficulty is not high enough that warrants using meta characters, he is unfortunately awkward to use. Natlan characters generally don't have this issue, plus they have mobility in their kits to make exploration faster, smoother and more fun. But meta wise the difficulty started ramping up. At this point my Hu Tao could barely keep up, and eventually I reluctantly had to bench her.

My mentality shifted again, I still wanted to get the characters I liked first, but now I felt compelled to go for more meta characters than before, and/or get constellations, like how I got Xilonen C2 which allowed her to be a very strong support for all but 2 elements. I still got characters who I liked but were pretty pointless for difficult content, like Sigewinne for example, but less and less.

The breaking point for me was Stygian Onslaught and Nod-Krai's lunar stuff. In Natlan I still held onto hope, because I wanted to believe that Hoyo had realized their mistake and would now start to make characters of similar power levels again. After all Mualani, Varesa and Citlali are all still very strong for example, but with Stygian they showed that they now only decided to ramp up the power creep, but they would now also heavily shill the newest characters by making participation in the new mode miserable for anyone who doesn't have them. And with Nod-Krai there were 2 more additions that pissed me off: all the new lunar-reactions and mechanics are tied to not only new characters, but exclusively new 5*, which also happen to lose a significant amount of damage if you don't also get their niche support 5*, and the new enemies all require the new mechanics. Also, unlike in Natlan, it's not enough to just have 1 Natlan team, but you need teams each of the reactions. Because enemies like Knuckle-Duckle aren't weak to lunar-reactions in general, but to one of them in particular. Plus stygian also now wants multiple lunar-teams in general. At this point I had decided I would stop spending money for this game. I have supported it by buying welkin and bp since launch, but what's the point if the character I get are gonna get powercrept immediately anyway. I have now switched back to my initial mentality of "I'm hust gonna get whoever I like", and I have pretty much stopped caring about endgame. I never cared for abyss anyway, and I hate stygian. I like IT but with so many required characters and bosses becoming more and more "shilly", it's teetering between like and dislike. I still try to complete them, but the moment I fail to do so once I genuinely won't care anymore.

The other thing is something that many may have forgotten about, which is increasing the level cap to 100, and restricting it for only whales basically. Sure the damage increase might not be very significant, but that's not the point. The issue is that it's yet another mechanic restricted by greed. Hoyo could easily have used the new level cap to buff older characters and fix the power creep issue by giving them new passives. Instead, they opted to do that in a way that would also shill new characters. Buffing older characters is great don't get me wrong, and it has somewhat restored my faith in Hoyo, but anyone who just stops to think about it for a second can realize that they could have just given all those passives to any character by adding a new talent for level 100 and making it a regular ascension. Instead they opted to market it, and make it so that Durin is pretty much the standout best character for Hexerei teams. Not that he's necessary, but the point is that buffed old characters at the cost of heavily restricting your team building and selling you a solution, instead of just simply buffing them.

Sorry for the rant, but I felt it's on topic here. "Pull for who you want, everyone is viable" truly was one of the best things about this game, and what made it so popular imo. It's a real shame that they abandoned the mindset that made them popular in exchange for the greed of every other gacha.

Yeah, if a character is a *struggle* to use effectively then it's hard to enjoy them. I *really* wish that they were more aggressive about patching broken characters into good ones, like Zhongli aggressive.

I still clear abyss with xiao ngl. I'm just having trouble this cycle bc first half requires hydro and second half requires lunar dmg 😔

My underleveled flins can clear second half ok but those wayobs in 12-2 is a pain in the ass, otherwise xiao would've done just fine, I think.

I remember I was traveling during Dehya's banner. Despite the limited internet, I tried to find a way to login just to pull her because I really like her. So I'm disappointed that she was unusable.

It honestly doesn't matter at all to me - I play for the story, so I'm not worried about Spiral Abyss or Imaginarium Theatre; I collect the characters I enjoy in the lore.

Tbf you gave us the worst exemple. I don't think there is a single 5\* character that is as displeasing to play as Cyno, numbers aside :

\- Burst DPS character so his damage is locked behind his kinda high-cost burst and most ennemies dies when the supports/sub-DPSes set up their stuff.

\- Needs very specific comps like Hyperbloom, barely has any damage outside of it which means he's often a very meh IT character.

\- Long duration burst which means most supports (aside Baizhu) which means he has to spend less time on field than expected.

\- Anti-synergistic with some characters such as Nahida.

Also you mentioned Xiao and Itto which are 2 Burst-locked-damage characters. They also don't feel good to use in the overworld which leads to benching them completely.

It's not about strength of a character, but more of bad design, some DPS, build in a way that's requires specific rotation and work around it, otherwise they going to be punished. As far as I notice, at least with characters that I see, they moved from that way of building to easier ways to use new characters.

I mean it's literally why we get some reworks like with albedo.

it definitely is annoying but eventually, if you really like them and put your love into em you can cram em anywhere

when i was experimenting to limit test the curren abyss
i did a cyno lunar charged team on one half and xiao premium on the other and it was smooth sailing

no but i do feel like i have to go for constellation for my favorite (weak characters) and i knew that when i initially pulled them like im currently saving for next time i can pull Ayato/Cyno/Emilie/Chiori (or support characters i can get for them) cuz they are characters i want to be "playable" and that i care about. (And kinda Yoimiya also but her constellations are so bad right now its basically just praying she gets a similar buff to Hexerei)

Every character can clear every content. Yes. That includes end game modes. Of course, for older units, to clear 12 floor of Abyss, you need more investment and skills, but for Stygian Onslaught, Imaginarium Theater, and most importantly, story content, every character is enough. I have Liyue-only account, where my main team is literally DPS Zhongli, DPS Xianyun (C3R1), DPS Ganyu, Support Shenhe. And this is really more than enough. I use DPS Xianyun as support in Abyss, because I am too lazy to change sets. When my main DPS is Yanfei usually in this scenario. I even use Zhongli as shielder, despite his shield isn't that good as DPS xD If this is enough, everything is enough. Meta is irrelevant and regardless of what meta slaves say, no, meta is not important at all in this game. I am perfect evidence of it with my alts.

Kinda sad that my c2r1 itto premium monogeo team barely has half of the dps of my c0 skirk team

As someone who pulled Keqing on her own banner way back when, and Dehya despite everyone crying about her kit, I say just pull the characters you like.

So what if they're not meta? The whole point of the endgame in Genshin is to make do with what you have AND find ways to make them work.

Meta characters make beating endgame easy, other characters require you to get thinking and try to make them work despite the meta. It'll be hard, but if you do like the characters, you'd put in the extra work, no?

On the flip side, personally I find it hard to enjoy the meta characters if I don't genuinely like them. It was a hard lesson, it felt like I just spent my resources on a bunch of big numbers waiting to be powercrept, maybe by a stronger character that I'd actually like.

ignore some of the aggressive meta slave comments, genshin community is the most mixed bag i hv ever seen regarding meta.

trust me on this, just do what you truly believe is enjoyable. i am the exact same as you, both vibes and feeling powerful are important. like i have mavuikas premium team even though i dont like her character as much, but i like how i can build her casually(she barely does 70k maybe on wonderland dps test) and use her in both abyss 11 and overworld. same for my skirk premium(does 100k even though she has all her best mates), but i do like skirk as a char too and even impulse pulled her because of that. both things happen with time.

btw i would suggest to give up on abyss 12, fearless stygian and IT highest stages. as an f2p, unless you get really lucky with your meta selection it will get tiring to chase these. its way more fun for atleast me to just sweep abyss 11 and leave. (note that with new meta teams you will be able to do abyss 12 fairly easily actually, its just after 6-7 months that it gets tiring because of new meta pushes like lunar)

Yea this was me with Xiao. I even have his weapon from some lost 50/50 but he is so underwhelming combat-wise. Loved his story and general play style but can’t do hectic late game stuff. I also used to love Ningguan before I started looking at tier lists and meta. Wish I could go back!

Fun is still being able to clear anything with your favorites despite it being a little challenging. What even is fun without a little challenge?

That's why I love characters like Furina, Xilonen and Durin. With their constellations, you can increase the DPS of any character to be good enough for Fearless, and it's not a wheelchair where you just pretend your character is doing something while the subdps deal 99% of the damage; you actually see impressive numbers on your main.

I like a bunch of weak 4 star characters, so supports like them are so useful since I can use them with multiple characters (and it's also the only way to increase their damage further since 4 stars have no vertical investment).

Hah I read the title and immediately thought of Cyno, I love that the post ended up being about Cyno.


Idk, I think if you build him and his team well enough you can make it work. I always use Cyno in the Abyss since he's my #2 favourite and honestly I just really enjoy playing him. I love smashing buttons. I'm really happy with his build, I remember all but jumping for joy at one of the artifacts I got for him one time when I was working on those lmao. I play him with Nahida, Fischl, and whatever healer is convenient given the enemy lineup. I love him, so I do what I can to make it work.

As someone who mains xinyan, i get it.
I have meta characters i use to just get things done but I love my xinyan and I don't regret characters who are "weak" I only regret characters i got only for hype I'd much rather play this game with characters i love. However I also don't try to max all end game content.

I think it comes down to what you do in game honestly

\*Cries in having to watch Hu Tao slowly fall off\*

I play the meta when I want easy clears or for SO, but even for floor 12 trying to clear with Ningguang or Ayato is a fun challenge

Bro I’ve been running around with Amber since like 1.2.

At this point the number of times she has been meta is like twice. I had to use deepwood amber during the first stygian, and more recently used her vs that bat.

Problem is, like you said, overworld is just running around oneshotting hilichurls
With anyone built. It doesn’t feel like gameplay, unless you go to kill bosses and either waste resin or don’t claim.

I C6'd my Xiao as an F2p. I don't care about meta when it comes to my most favourite characters.

It does suck and it makes me question how much to invest into a character as someone who only spends on BP and welkin. I don’t usually pull for weapons, but I used to get cons sometimes. My C2 Raiden doesn’t feel like it was worth it now. So like should I still pull constellations on newer units who I love? How long until that was a waste? And plus with newer dps units you need their 5 star support now. I love IT and I hope they implement more opportunities to use older units. I’ve been so happy using venti again, and now as a dps! I think Liyue characters are getting buffed soon, but itll probably be awhile until cynos buffed

I pull for character I like and skip the rest, their power doesn't matter. If they are meta, that's a nice bonus.

I just play who I want. I play driver Kokomi as one of my main teams. I can't clear floor 12 with that team, but I still use it to its most viable breaking point, and it makes the game more challenging and fun.

As someone who only owns off-meta units, I only recently got a super meta team due to pulling Columbina and Ineffa, and the dps difference is staggering. The people who are playing meta teams are playing a different game. However, not necessarily a better game! Just cater your Genshin experience to yourself, and the fulfillment will make it fun.

Pre hex albedo. Guess it’s Itto now.

ive been maining childe nonstop since 2020. just play who you like even if it means forcefeeding them attack foods lmao. most common enemies you encounter while playing can be beat even with super weak characters so it really doesnt matter imo

then again i dont particularly care for spiral or stygian so maybe thats why im rather unbothered by it

That's why I did c6 my queen Furina. She works alone and buffs all my old and/or loved characters no matter if they are meta strong to almost meta power level.

One half in Abyss is often a Furina triple flex with whatever (old) characters I like as long as they work together at least and match the elemental requirements.

Abyss (or also other combat content) are so much more fun since I got my queen. I have never regretted it.

I agree and feel the same

The end game content doesn't even bother me 😅 for me playing a character is just taking him everywhere open world, do events, explore and enjoy our time together 🫣 I will keep pulling for what I like despite everything...

It’s definitely a problem and for awhile it was a bad run if you liked certain characters, dehya and cyno are my main ones but I’ll be real there are a bunch that rarely get dusted off at all. Cyno was good at some point he was my main for awhile and I wanted him since the trailer back in the day! Do I regret it? Sure slightly but do I still love him as a character? Most definitely! Hell I’ve even replaced him with flins but I still love the Sumerian god of dad jokes so I use him when I can and honestly because of IT I find myself still thinking geez I’m lucky I have xyz character

Characters cost too much to not have a purpose beyond bench warmer. With Natlan being the nation of traversal mechanics they're pretty much locked in for overworld activities, so I don't pull new characters unless they have some use in endgame content or they bring something interesting to the table for my overworld group.

I don't need everyone to be top of the meta, but if they're worth pulling I expect them to at least be competitive or do something meaningful that other characters can't.

i think it boils down to how willing you are to compromising. i like kaveh, and well, his kit was basically dead on arrival. in spite of this, i brute-forced him into abyss and took him everywhere i could. that is to say, if you really like the character, and you really wanna play them in harder content, you gotta compromise that it’ll take a lot more effort than meta units.

I'm very invested in physical and geo, still waiting for the big payoff. All geo triple crowned, Noelle is my muse. My Albedo somehow hit 1%. I barely clear abyss 36* these days, struggle with stygian, but the difficulty and niche is its own joy for me. I've outlasted all my meta chasing friends on genshin. My pulls are so focused that I'm FOMO-proof.

I had the same mind as you in beginning then learned META just makes life easier. I used to love Chongyun and built him real good artifacts. Then I met Furina and Skirk, I don't think I've ever touched our Chongy after that.

I'm clearing Abyss with Noelle, if you get the right characters and get a *really* good build, you can usually manage with almost any character.

Same, all my faves are either ass (itto, kaveh, freminet) or painnfully mid (wrio, baizhu)